Ren gave the new girl, Max, a wry smile. She liked her already, blunt and to the point. She nodded at the two newcomers when Isaiah named her, hoping that the still red flush wouldn't be too noticeable. For fucks sake, I still haven't been able to talk to Mel about this... She thought as she looked at the girl, who for some reason had a huge dumb grin on her face. What exactly was happening in that head of hers?

"Assault and CQC expert." She straightened up a bit, placing her hands behind her back. She raised an eyebrow at Sharline and Eckhart, she wasn't expecting them to also don the suits.

Caldwell waited as impatiently as always while the group went about their vague introductions. His mood didn’t improve when Sharline and Eckhart showed up. “Oh, you came too Eckhart. What an unexpected and pleasant surprise,” he said, putting extra emphasis on his words just to make absolutely sure his sarcasm got across. “Alright let’s cut the chit chat and get some work done. Eckhart since you’re here why don’t you help Sharline. You two just take your SIRENs up and down the training grounds a few times so the rookies can get an idea how they move.”

Eckhart afforded Caldwell a polite smile, “But of course, Doctor.” He turned toward Sharline, who nodded her head. “Dustin said the SIRENs were all prepped,” she hooked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Let's suit up first, 'kay.”

The SIREN storage facility was a stone's throw away from the north entrance to the training grounds. The CEO and analyst suited up quietly, without much conversation on either side. With her body secured in the opalescent armor, Sharline placed her head inside the helmet. She felt the familiar sensation of electrodes connecting to her temples and down her spine. Suddenly, it seemed as if the world outside was moving in slow motion – or she incredibly fast. The young woman performed some routine warm-up practices to test basic functioning; flexing the hands, twisting at the waist, and a light jog around the room – all in two blinks of an eye. Eckhart, encased in his own towering suit, leaned back against the giant metal locker where the Alexander had lain dormant. “It's amazing to me,” the man began. “How much faster Scouts are compared to the others.”

Sharline scoffed. “Pfft. They sacrifice a lot though, to make up for that speed,” the woman skidded to an easy halt, raising her arms above her head in another stretch. “Weaker, less hardy. For example, in terms of strength–”

Sharline's arms were suddenly pinned against the wall. She tilted her neck back, looking all the way up the offending black giant. “In terms of strength,” Eckhart grinned down through his dark visor. “An Assault enhances its pilot's by two hundred percent, while a Scout's is only a hundred,” the man was impish as he recounted statistics. Sharline struggled to free her wrists, but there was no competition. ...Shit. She tried a second time, but her arms didn't budge under the Assault's brute strength. “Okay, Grant, point taken,” the smaller figure looked down, her face abashed. She felt him release her wrists. “You do know,” Sharline began, glancing up as the man headed for the door. “That I would be stronger than you in a Heavy, right?”

The CEO laughed. “Sharline, a little kid would be stronger than me in a Heavy.”__________

Far across the room from the recruits, the glass doors to the north entrance slid open automatically. A massive black figure crossed over the threshold; the being was reminiscent of an android from a sci-fi movie. Beside it emerged another figure, this one pearl-colored and significantly smaller. The second android's shape – distinctly female in its dimensions – was a subtle cue to the pilot's sex.

The person in the smaller suit waved her arm high, signaling the beginning of the demonstration. Without any delay, the black giant tore off in a sprint across the field. The android dropped into a slide, activating the thrusters on its back. The being shot off like a rocket, reaching top speed in the span of several seconds and barreling toward the recruits.

The white android, who had been watching the first, took off as well. She performed a similar sliding maneuver as she darted toward the onlookers, accelerating to top speed in the fraction of a second. The white SIREN bypassed the black one almost instantaneously, before both shot past either edge of the group. A few seconds later the pair had reached the opposite side of the stadium.

Although they were hard to discern from where the recruits stood, the duo seemed to stand idly for a moment. The white android was looking up at the black one, some exchange taking place. The white SIREN arched over – as if laughing – before she playfully pushed the larger one in the stomach. Some recruits may have found the sight surreal, the two robotic beings behaving in such a distinctly human way.

After another pause, the pair turned to their frail onlookers in the center of the stadium. The black android picked up the female, effortlessly lifting her atop his shoulders before breaking into another rocketing sprint. The behemoth catapulted her up; she soared through the air, so high that one had to crank their neck back to bear witness. The figure danced through space in a series of superhuman acrobatics, her twists and spins as graceful as a pirouetting ballet dancer.

The white SIREN landed adeptly, several yards from the others; the force of her impact was strong enough to shake the lighter recruits. She turned back toward the black android, who was slightly slower. The onyx figure pressed his hands into the ground mid-dash, hurling himself up in an impressive – but significantly less delicate – double somersault. His feet landed with a slam, the ground rocking violently around him. The force was easily enough to shake everyone except his white-suited partner. The large SIREN removed his helmet, revealing the tousled hair and brilliant beam of Grant Eckhart.

“Ah ha ha!” the man's hearty laugh echoed around the stadium. The white android removed hers too; Sharline McGovern's expression was effervescent, her eyes bright and vibrant. “Oh god...” she giggled. “It's been so long...I forgot how much fun these things are.” Eckhart faced the group, tilting his head downward. "As you can see, this is the power of the SIREN – the Synapse Integrated Reflex Enhancing Neurosuit."

“Mr. Eckhart's model, the Alexander, is an Assault type. You all probably saw how powerful it is,” the woman's choice of words seemed to carry a subtle nuance. “My model, the Sepia, is a Scout. It's not as strong, but it's pretty fast.” Sharline looked toward Isaiah, her smile mischievous. “Well? What do you think, Commander.”

Asmodai wrote:Behind every powerful man, stands an even more powerful woman... right? xD

Melani's hand shot up like the brainy kid in school as soon as she thought Sharline was done talking, her eyes riveted to the suit the other woman wore. Excitement nearly burst her cheerful little seams, but there was no small amount of worry there, too. The word “synapse” and the “neuro” in neurosuit gave the idea that the suit somehow interfaced directly with the nerves and/or brain. Any medical professional that didn't worry about something hooking into the body's neurological system was a bad medical professional, and Melani certainly was not that!

Isaiah stood by quietly as Eckhart and Sharline departed, taking this moment to look over the new recruits. They both seemed fairly unimposing. Then again, appearances were often deceiving. Rather than bother making conversation with them though, Isaiah simply turned his attention back in the direction Sharline and Eckhart had wandered off to. What in the world was taking them so long? “Maybe Caldwell was being serious with that pole comment…,” Isaiah shuddered and gagged slightly at the thought, causing the good doctor himself to look up from his clip board, the faintest hint of a grin on his face.

Isaiah flinched for a moment before again focusing on Caldwell. The good doctor was again scribbling on his clip board, the same perpetual scowl still plastered on his face. “….I must be going crazy,” was the young sergeant’s first thought. It was then that Sharline and Eckhart finally emerged back onto the training grounds, donned in rather unusual attire to say the least. Isaiah’s eyebrow raised when the large black SIREN launched towards them before being overtaken by the smaller white one. “….Heeeeelloooooooo….,” Isaiah smiled as he turned around to continue observing the demonstration. It was then that Sharline and Eckhart started their mini-gymnastics routine. Isaiah half-chuckled at this, making a mental note of the incredible mobility the machines seemed to possess. When Sharline finally did pose her question to him, Isaiah's reply was short and sweet. “Great…..suit me up.”

“For the record I think you both looked ridiculous,” came the annoyed reply of Caldwell. “Either way, I think the recruits get the gist of it now. Let’s get them suited up.” Caldwell turned and started strolling across the training grounds, followed closely by the group. As the party entered through the glass doors, they were greeted by a row of what appeared to be half assembled SIRENs. “Sergeant Cole, you’re in unit 1, Dalakis, unit 2, Diaz, unit 3, Engleton, unit 4, Galia, unit 5, Ishii, unit 6, Slavik, unit 7, and Zahari, unit 8.”

Following the good doctor’s orders, Isaiah stepped into the first capsule, observing what appeared to be a large pair of metal trousers. Isaiah’s eyebrow raised slightly as he stepped into the lower portion of the SIREN. As soon as he did however, the glass door to the capsule slid shut and the metallic pants locked around his legs. In the next instant several large metallic arms extended out from the walls, each carrying a different piece of the soon to be assembled SIREN with them. “Try to relax or you might lose something!” Caldwell shouted from behind the sound proof glass. Isaiah’s eyes slammed shut as the SIREN was assembled around him. A strange chill ran up his spine as the unit connected to his nervous system.

“Oh that’s cold. That is very cold,” Isaiah stammered as the SIREN’s helmet was brought out and promptly slapped around his head. After a few seconds Isaiah opened his eyes and was greeted by pitch black darkness. “…Hello?” As soon as the word left his lips the SIREN’s HUD activated.

’Greetings Sergeant Cole,’ came the electronic trilling of the SIREN’s main computer. ’You are now piloting the Celsius corp. Synapse Integrated Reflex Enhancing Neurosuit, or SIREN for short. This particular model is known as the Avalon. Please exit the chamber in 3….2…..1….’ At once the clamps around Isaiah’s feet released, allowing the young sergeant to pilot the suit on his own for the first time. Isaiah exited the capsule, using the wall as support at first before finally standing to his feet on his own. “…Oh ho ho, I could get used to this….”

Teo walked into the second capsule, instantly the SIREN began assembling itself around him, making him stare uneasily as he eventually became concealed. "Whoa..." he said to himself as his nervous system was connected to the machine. The helmet came down, completing the SIREN. "What now?" Teo asked almost hesitantly. "Hello, Private Dalakis. You are piloting the Celsius corp. SIREN called Regulus. Departing in 3 seconds. 3, 2 , 1" The machine answered, leaving him little time to react to being released. He landed on both feet with a loud and heavy thud, shaking the ground and anyone near it. Teo began walking the SIREN forward, feeling much stronger but almost like he was fighting against a strong current. The SIREN was slow but Teo felt invulnerable, "Whoa, all right. This is different," he said wobbling and barely catching his balance.

"Is good to know," he said softly to Mel, "Am not good with people." He paused as he listened to the others and looked to Issiah. "... Tin Man?" he asked and thought, Damn, I am stuck with that, aren't I? He sighed and said softly, "Of course sir."

Kirill listened to the others speak to Max and Teo and sighed when Issiah introduced him as Tin Man. He pulled in his sleeves again, shifting his scarf around his neck. "Artillery."

He timidly walked to the 6th unit and relaxed as was told. He put his pink scarf on the ground gently. He watched it build around him, amazed by the technology. It cooled his metal limbs and he shivered slightly, enjoying the cold and the slight vibration as it connected to his nerv. Heat sucked.

"Is alright?" he whispered after being left in the dark for a few minutes, the screen brightened and the machine spoke in a dull monotone. Greetings Corporal Galia. You are now piloting the Celsius corp. Synapse Integrated Reflex Enhancing Neurosuit, or SIREN for short. This particular model is known as the IVAN 4 V.O.D.K.A.. Please exit the chamber in 3….2…..1….

Kirill dropped to his knees and grunted slightly, before shifting so he was sitting. He moved his hands slowly, like a small child and then picked up his scarf. He wrapped his scarf around his neck then moved the Heavy slowly into the standing position. "Tin Man reporting in. I not like name though, Sarge."

Last edited by Keiran on Thu Sep 01, 2011 6:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Mornings were never good for ZZ. Waking up at any hour before 9 was too early for ZZ, but with her job, she couldn’t complain. Literally. The annoying sound of the buzzing caused her eyes to shoot open immediately, regretting as soon as she did that. A numbing headache was beginning to grow behind her eyes from last night. Oh fan-freaking-tastic. She noticed her roommate get up and suit up in something that was new. ‘Never noticed those before…’ As Ren left the room, ZZ got up and walked over to the suit of her own and inspected it. ‘Not much breathing room…’ she mentally noted. After changing into her suit once she got a quick shower, she followed everyone else and stood behind the group mostly, grabbing a cup of coffee and listening to the chatter of what happened last night. Unlike everyone else, ZZ wasn’t particularly interested in Mel’s and Ren’s lesbian escapade.

Hearing Dr. Caldwell’s voice over the intercom, ZZ placed her coffee mug on the counter and proceeded to follow everyone to the training grounds, wondering what she should expect today. Running her fingers through her hair, ZZ cracked her neck as Caldwell introduced two new crew members. Staying rather muted, ZZ watched the two new members with interest. Lost in thought, ZZ began to stare off in no particular direction until something appeared behind the glass in front of her. With her arms crossed, she refocused her attention on the two objects that appeared behind the class. She watched, intrigued by the machines, as they perform tricks and maneuvers.

Hearing which unit she was assigned to, ZZ walked towards unit 8 and stepped into the capsule. Sitting as still as ever, ZZ watched as the SIREN was assembled around her. Once she was connected to the suit, the helmet was put on her head and a slight thought of panic rushed through her entire body making her stiff. With nothing happening, ZZ shut her eyes and took a deep breath. “Um…What am I-” ZZ was cut off before she could say another word. The computer voice began to speak. “Welcome, Private Zahari. You are now a pilot for the Celsius corp. Your Synapse Integrated Reflex Enhancing Neurosuit, or SIREN is called Zroya. Prepare for release in 3…, 2…, 1…” Stepping out of the chamber, ZZ took hesitant steps. ‘This is… interesting…’ she thought to herself. She stood up, trying to get comfortable with the suit itself. It seemed to be very slow in its movements. “Not exactly speedy, I see…” she muttered under her breath.

Melani's hand drifted down as she was ignored, and proceeded to bite the inside of her cheek. As she made her way to where her designated suit was, she told herself that these things, though experimental, had to be safe for them to be conducting human trials. Certainly there couldn't be any chances of biofeedback or neurological symptoms. Then again, if they had worked all of the kinks out, then they wouldn't need test pilots, now would they? There was almost certainly some level of medical risk involved with these neurosuits, or they'd be in mass production already.

Sharline didn't look like a gymnast. Melani could have been wrong about that, but if that were the case, then they would have chosen someone a lot more...physical than Melly herself. That observation, along with the meaning of the acronym, led the little medic to believe that the suit somehow hooked into the nervous system and intercepted signals. Then it somehow interpreted them and extrapolated intent from those small electrical impulses, magnifying and enhancing the effect with a speed that gave the illusion that the process was seamless. They hadn't been prepared with any sort of gel to facilitate connectivity to the nerves, so she could only assume that the skin-tight under-suits that they wore had some sort of conductivity weave in them to replace the need for such a thing.

Or maybe it was nano-machines?

She grimaced as she moved to climb into position, reminding herself that she really needed to get her hands on the medical histories of her group. It was a shame she didn't know them better. It'd be easier to identify actions and statements that were out of character (and thus, possibly related to neurological symptoms) if she did.

Oh, well.

She closed her eyes and held herself very still (she'd caught Caldwell's warning, even if Isaiah hadn't) as the hydraulic assistance enclosed her into the SIREN. She gasped as the helmet was locked into place with its barely discernible hiss, the connections to her synapses were formed. If she'd had the freedom to move, she would have shuddered with the sudden flood of sensation, but as it was, she was locked into place and could only open her eyes in the complete blackness.

A surge of natural panic welled up inside her. The human fear of the dark was almost genetic, and when combined with immobilization...well, at least she still had the sensation of touch, so it wasn't complete sensory deprivation.

She forced herself to swallow, closing her eyes again, and then let her tongue dart out to wet her lips, which were now dry despite her level of hydration from the previous night.

”C-cor..Corporal Melani Engleton, reporting,” she chanced, her voice sounding cracked and foreign to her own ears.

If she hadn't already had her eyes closed, she would have been forced to close them as the interior lighting of the helmet flared to life. She cracked an eye open as her suit introduced itself to her as the Asclepius, and then told her that they were exiting the relative immobile safety of the dock.

3...

Prepare. Be normal. Don't think. Just move.

2...

It's normal. Everything's fine. Just walk out like you aren't even wearing the thing, Mel.

1....

The clamps on the legs released and Melani let out a hot breath that she'd been holding as she tentatively stepped forward, out of the SIREN's little storage home thing.

The white suit was slightly smaller than the other Assault types, owing to Melani's own size, and it effectively hid her figure, unlike Sharline's Scout model. It was all lacquered a crisp white, save for the emergency-red symbols crosses that adorned the chest and back, and the gleaming black decals on each shoulder, depicting a Rod of Asclepius.

”Um, hey...Asclepius?” she asked, feeling really weird talking to the suit like it was a person...but what else was she going to do? “Can we, like, establish some kind of band of communication with anyone else?” The sensation of being alone, even though she could on her HUD the other suits stepping out of their little pods, was making her much less comfortable than she was comfortable with.

Ren had been watching the presentation by Sharline and Eckhart with much interest, so much even, that for a moment she forgot all about her claustrophobia. It was impressive to say the least, they clearly operated on levels that the human body would never achieve. But one thought kept coming back what possible use does all that jumping around have in a battlefield? Sure, those suits seemed like they could withstand more fire than your average body armor. But if you kept jumping around like that, you'd only give away your position, not to mention open yourself to larger caliber fire. Why couldn't they just give a military presentation? Then again, that was probably what they brought us in for.

When they were being herded towards the 'dressing room' Ren couldn't help but remember what Caldwell had said earlier. About the suits being claustrophobic death traps. Well, that might be a tad over the top. But it sure wasn't going to be pleasant. Of course, Caldwell telling that the suiting up might also cause injuries if you don't stand still was just rubbing salt into the wound. But he was just joking, right? He seemed like the kind of asshole who'd do that... Yeah, this was probably a piece of cake.

Ren walked up to her designated pod. Looking into the tiny space she felt her heart rate increase. "Come on girl, you've tackled worse than this." she mumbled to herself. The others were already entering their pods, unhindered by any irrational fears of confined spaces. It was irrational, right? It's not like the pod could suddenly compress or something. Some of the technicians were looking at her, wondering what she was waiting for.

Closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths, Ren prepared herself, before quickly stepping into her pod, holding her breath. Trembling and tensed she stepped into the legwork. "Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up, hurry up, come on hurry up already." she chanted with clenched teeth. Her fists were tensed so tight that her knuckles turned stark white. Her heart was racing, feeling like it would burst out of her chest at any given moment.

The machines started whirring and the assembly was underway. No way of backing out now. A sickness washed over her, that had nothing to do with last night. She noticed that she had been holding her breath ever since she stepped into the tube, she just couldn't get her chest to relax. She was so tensed up it actually hurt. The legs closed up, preventing her from moving away, as arms came from the sides to assemble the rest of the suit. Okay, so this isn't so bad. I can do this. Yeah, I can do this. she thought, before she noticed the helmet coming down. It encased her in a pitch black darkness. Ren wanted to scream, rip the helmet off and just run away from this place. But she was a soldier, she was taught to never back down. She shut her eyes so tightly, that it made her see white spots. Anything to drive away this darkness. The suit started to connect with her, Ren was so occupied with trying not to freak out, she only registered it as a mild tingling sensation. I've been through worse. I've seen live action. Survived against all odds. This wont kill me, this cant kill me!A bright light suddenly filled her vision as the helmet display came to live.

’Greetings Corporal Iishi,’ A cooing womanly voice started ’You are now piloting the Celsius corp. Synapse Integrated Reflex Enhancing Neurosuit, or SIREN for short. This particular model is known as the Vindicta. Please exit the chamber in 3….2…..1….’ The clamps holding her legs in place let go of the armor, allowing Ren to burst out of the chamber, nearly breaking the apparatus inside the chamber. It garnered yet another interesting look from the technicians.

Ren was breathing heavy, almost as if she had just run a marathon. Uphill. With something heavy on her back. And she did not feel well. "Oh god, I feel like I'm going to barf." With a loud clunking sound she let herself fall against the outer tube wall. It was probably a good thing nobody could see her face right now, as it wasn't the prettiest sight. She could feel cold sweat running down her forehead and her complexion probably wasn't all that healthy looking either right now. But at least her heart was finally calming down a little. She raised an arm and wiggled some of her fingers, noticing how effortlessly it went. The armor was quite bulky, but it was barely noticeable.

With a sigh of relief she let the arm fall to her side again, generating another loud clunk as it hit the wall and another set of looks from the technicians. But at least the worst part was over now. Now came the fun part.

Isaiah flexed his fingers continuously, getting used to the unnatural feeling of the SIREN. The initial chill still hadn't worn off, sending what seemed to be a perpetual shiver down the man's spine. Caldwell immediately noted this, and lifted his tablet towards the young sergeant. After focusing in on him, Caldwell's fingers ran wild on the screen until Isaiah's SIREN admitted an odd set of clicks and whirs. Then suddenly the chill was gone, and Isaiah felt as though he were not wrapped in some unnatural suit of armor, but rather, almost nude. "Is this better or worse?" Isaiah asked himself, shrugging the thought off before taking another step forward. "Alright everyone, let's get this show started. Doc, what's on the agenda?"

"The.....agenda.....is that we're going to teach you how to walk without falling on your asses. Then we're going to teach you how to disarm and rearm the SIRENs without the use of these chambers. Try not to break something, everything in here is worth more than you," the good doctor scribbled a few notes down on his tablet before setting it back down on the table. Caldwell's attention shifted to the engineers observing the group before motioning to speak again. "The hell are you waiting for? Get your jarhead and get to work you damn slackers." At once the engineers went to work, each one making their way to a different pilot. The engineer that approached Isaiah was a skinny boy, obviously fresh out of college with glasses and messy brown hair.

".....Who're you supposed to be?"

'He is Dr. Elliot Draven, Sergeant Cole,' the Avalon chimed in before the young engineer had time to answer.

"Doctor?"

"I skipped a few grades....." the boy responded nervously, before adjusting his glasses and motioning the young sergeant to follow him. "Dr. Caldwell wanted to start with basic movement but, if you promise not to tell him, I think it'd be better if we worked on removing and applying the unit on your own first."

Isaiah shrugged, seeing no real problem with the plan either way. "Whatever you say, Doc. So how do I get this thing off?"

"Well y-"

'Beginning disarm sequence now.' Before the young doctor had time to explain, the Avalon's helmet clicked and hissed as air escaped the various seals. At once the unit seemed to unfold from around Isaiah, bending backwards such that the unit's helmet practically brushed the tile below. Next, the leggings of the Avalon hissed and opened, allowing Isaiah to step out seamlessly.

"Well, that was a lot simpler than you made it sound....."

"Yes well.....it took awhile to get the auto-mated system working. I really wanted to test the manual system in case of system failure but it looks like the Avalon had other ideas......" Draven scratched his head and squatted down next to the SIREN. "Avalon, could you allow Sergeant Cole to attempt the manual equip procedure?"

"Certainly, Dr. Draven."

"Right, well then, Sergeant Cole would you mind?"

Isaiah nodded as he stepped back into the Avalon. Noting that the SIREN did not immediately react to him Isaiah bent down and slid his arms into the metallic sleeves of the units and giving it a hard tug. The SIREN barely budged as the gears struggled to click and line into place. "Shiiiiiiiiiiiiit," Isaiah cursed as he used every ounce of his strength to lift the SIREN's upper portion over his shoulders. "Sweet lord this thing's heavy."

"Things that are bullet proof and made of metal usually are.....," Draven noted under his breath.

Isaiah finally finished dawning the SIREN a few minutes later, struggling to catch his breath as he did. "Well.....that was.......fun?"

“As you wish, Corporal Engleton,” a pleasant feminine voice replied, taking Melani by surprise. A small portion of her field of vision lit up like a stereo equalizer as an audio feed of the exterior was established. The tightening in her chest eased as the sense of isolation was dispelled by that small comfort.

As the engineers came forward, a well-manicured nordic blond made her way to Melani's side, giving a cool, professional smile. ”Corporal. My name is Dr. Nathalie Fortenschwal, and I'll be assisting you with your SIREN.” Melly got the sense that this woman was...well, a shark. Her too-professional posture and fake smile (Melani knew fake smiles, and hers was much more natural-looking) spoke of the woman's goal-oriented nature, and the little medic's imagination painted Dr. Fortenschwal's teeth a little sharper than they really were. “I see that you're already beginning to get the basics of movement, so let's just expound on that, shall we?”

“Ah...Yes, sir...Ma'am, Doctor, Ma'am,” Melani blurted out. The awkward reply seemed to amuse her designated engineer, because Fortenschwal chortled before doling out instruction to Melly, who was almost afraid that the good Doctor would chew through her suit and eat her alive if she didn't perform well enough.

"You know, I'd really advice against... barfing inside the unit. There're no drains. Might need to add those." A male voice started, with a hint of superiority. Then again, maybe she was just imagining things.

Ren couldn't see who it was, she was still leaning on her knees trying to fight back the cold shivers. The only thing she saw right now where the over sized tanks that were supposed to pass as boots. How she managed to move around in those were beyond her. Deep breaths girl, just calm down. This'll all bubble down soon enough. sadly she never did.

"Look, can you get up now? We have tests to run miss... Ishe... Ishy... Is that how you pronounce it? Actually, never mind, I don't really care." There was that hint of superiority again. Now she knew for sure. "Sounds rather Maldovian to me." he mumbled under his breath. Ren jumped up, lashing out to the man with a well armored finger. "Hey! Nobody calls me a fuck... ing... Oh"

She had been expecting a regular lab rat, scrawny guy, pencil neck, thick glasses. You know, the kind of guys you'd see in those cliched action movies. Or at the very least a clone of Caldwell. Instead, she was greeted by a tall man, with fair build and short blond hair. he had a strange eye color, something between brown and green. It seemed to alternate between the two as the lighting changed. It took her by surprise.

"I eeuhm..." She tried in vain, but her train of thought had been broken. "Oooookay, now that I finally got you attention, my name is""Doctor Bradley Shaw. Age 27." the computerized voice quickly finished. "And I'll be your personal engineer and logistic officer for the duration of the training period." Ren certainly didn't mind that, she even almost forgot about his attitude.

"Hmm, seems that your heart rate is well above average. Not too uncommon for a new pilot I guess, although we did see a massive spike during the suit up. Vindictus, could you administer a small sedative to calm her down a little?" It was really weird to see someone talk in your direction, but not directly at you. "Certainly Doctor Shaw." Ren tried to intervene "Whoa, wait! Sedative? I dont want a seda-" But almost immediately felt a tingling sensation run down her spine, like someone running a cold finger past it. Her entire body seemed to relax instantaneous, making her feel more comfortable in the heavy suit. "Huh." Ren simply remarked as her head cleared up.

The man got out a clipboard, tapping it rapidly with the pen that was attached to it. It was clear he wanted to get this done quickly. "Good, now then, we'll start off with a few simple motor skills, to see if your movement isn't impaired. So if you would be so kind as to raise your arms to your side, that would just be peachy." Here was a man, surrounded by the highest grade technology man has ever constructed, working with the pioneers for a new military super power and the man sounds like his work was as tedious as sweeping the floor. "Look, I climbed out of the tube thing, I think that says enough about my motor skills, right?" Ren tried, hoping that they would be able to skip the boring parts. In her eye corner she noticed that Isaiah was putting on the suit manually? Why would they need that? "Just do it, okay? I'm just here to tell you what to do and check these little boxes." Once more tapping on the clipboard impatiently. The man may have the looks, but he certainly didn't have the personality.

Reluctantly Ren raised her arms in front of her, once more surprised at how incredibly easy it went. "Good" Dr. Shaw dryly said without even looking "Now please move them to their respective side." Once more Ren obliged. It wasn't fair, Isaiah seemed to have skipped this, why couldn't she? The man sighed "Good, now raise them as far above your head as possible." And again Ren obliged, noticing how the shoulder pads very cleverly rotated with her own shoulder, preventing them from obstructing her arms. God, were they really going to test every little movement in this?

"Doctor Shaw, it would perhaps be a good idea to skip the basic motor functions. If anything seems out of the ordinary, I will set up a report and send it to you or any of the other engineers on duty right away." The computer suddenly said, maybe noticing how both engineer as pilot were annoyed by the tedious tasks? Dr. Shaw thought about this for a while, rubbing the bridge of his nose with index finger and thumb. "You know what? Fine, lets just skip this. Its not my problem if your arm gets broken by faulty calibrations." He suddenly said, much to Ren's relief. Well, sort of relief. "Thanks... computer." she mumbled somewhat uncertain. "No problem Corporal and you can call my Vindictus." Now Ren couldn't say for sure, but she swore she picked up a hint of pleasure in that voice. Could these AI have personality?

The man sighed again "Up next then, manual disassembling and assem... What you saw Sergeant Isaiah do." It really wasn't fair that such a good looking man was born with such a nasty personality, Ren thought as she tried to find a button or something on the suit. "Eeuhm, how exactly does this work?" She asked after not finding a single thing that looked like a button. "Why are you asking me? Try your onboard assistant, its there for a reason." Which made sense. "Eeuhm... Vindictus? Could you do that thingy that Isaiah did?" God it sounded stupid to be talking in a helmet like this. "Hmm, whats the magic word?" The voice asked playfully. It took a while before Ren comprehended what had just happened, the AI did indeed have personality. Somewhat ashamed of giving in to a computer she mumbled "Please."

What followed was the sound like that of a pressurized door unlocking, clicks and whirs and gasses being released from the hydraulic systems filled her ears as the suit slowly opened up. it kinda looked like a giant oyster opening. First the helmet opened up at the front, before sliding to the back. After which the arms disengaged and the torso fell apart, allowing Ren to easily step out. Which she did, almost too greedily. She was covered in sweat, making her hair stick to her back as if she had just ran a marathon or something. It probably didn't make the suit any more fashionable either. She leaned on her knees, catching a few well deserved breaths. When she noticed the good old doctor clearly staring at her ass, not even trying to hide it. "Do I need to get you binoculars or something?" She tried, expecting that it would probably scare him off. "No, I'm good." He simply said, without taking his eyes away. Well, at least he wasn't frigid, though if this was an improvement or not?

"Now eeuhm... Yeah, just get back in." he said with a waving gesture. "But take your time." he added with a sly smile. Ren glared at him, she wasn't sure what was worse, the uptight doctor or the perverted doctor. She stepped back into the suit, noticing a few handles inside the suit. Grabbing on to them, she expected it to be as easy as it was to lift her arm while inside it. Sadly that only worked if you were actually inside the suit. It weighed a ton! "Come on, put your back into it." Dr. Shaw remarked with a rather amused voice.

After a few seconds of straining lifting, more remarks from Dr. Shaw about her ass and a face as red a beet, she finally got the suit back on. "Vindictus, next time you're more than allowed to give me a hand you know." She said breathing heavily. Dear god and this was only just the beginning of the tests.

Sharline and Eckhart stood beside Caldwell as the SIREN-clad recruits were met by their aides. The girl giggled as she watched Isaiah and Ren struggle to haul the suits on manually. Poor guys. Have no idea how Melani'll do that. Her dark irises glanced down to the corner of the HUD, where elegant cursive numbering – customized to her taste – read the time. "Sepia, what's Mr. Eckhart's next appointment?"

"There is a meeting with Rick Takanohashi and his father, of Takanohashi Motors, at three thirty. Negotiations with the King Oil Group begin at five," the Sepia's voice was light and vaguely delicate.

Sharline turned to Eckhart. "Thanks for today," she smiled, even though she knew the gesture was imperceptible. "You made the demonstration a little more dramatic."

Eckhart's eyes shined through the visor, undoubtedly in a vibrant beam. "No problem. This is where the fun is," he motioned toward the recruits, awkwardly becoming adjusted to their suits. "...James misses out on a lot." Sharline thought she percieved a shade of remorse as he gazed upon them, before turning to leave.

"Uh – I can make it for the meeting with King Oil!" she called out. "They won't need me much more today," the analyst added, working to make her tone smoother. Eckhart chuckled, and waved her off. "I can handle King. Just stay with the newbies – they need you now."

Sharline tried to find something else to say as the CEO walked away. For some reason, she felt so...disconcerted. "Connect me to Donahue," the girl could hear Eckhart mutter under his breath. "Of course, Director..." came the Alexander's baritone reply.

Asmodai wrote:Behind every powerful man, stands an even more powerful woman... right? xD

While the others had begun getting in to the SIRENs Max had been informed by one of the technicians that she zip up her jacket properly. Doing so, she then had moved over to the capsule the person had pointed out and had stepped in. The sudden darkness had left her seeing spots of light and she stood very still breathing calmly waiting for whatever was supposed to happen to happen.

When the SIREN began to assemble she twitched slightly in surprise, her breath quickening. She didn't like not being able to see what was going on around her. When it connected to her nervous system her breath hitched as it sent shivers down her body leaving goose bumps in its wake.

"C-cold." She muttered trying not to shiver as the helmet came down around her head and hissed shut. After a moment of silence Max decided to speak, "Okay so what now?"

"Hello Corporal Maxine Diaz, you are now piloting the Celsius corp. Synapse Integrated Reflex Enhancing Neurosuit, also known as SIREN for short. This model is known as the Female Covert Killing Unit - F.C.K.U. for short.

The capsule opened up and Max stepped out feeling surprisingly light. She stretched her arms up testing the maneuverability and smiled. She might be in a metal suit, but she could tell already that moving around wasn't going to be an issue.

"Excuse me Ms. Maxine?" an elderly voice questioned to her left. Max turned to see a small man with short fluffy grey hair and large glasses blinking at her owlishly. "Ah good, the external auditory functions seem to be working, we had a couple bugs in it that we had to fix." He wrote something on a clipboard quickly, "My name is Doctor Mark Woodson, but you can just call me Doc. I'll be working with you from now on."

"Hello Doc, you can just call me Max. It's nice to meet you." She smiled and stuck out her hand then thought better of it, "Whoops, could probably pulverize your hand on accident from what I've heard about these things."

"It's no problem Max, you'll get used to it soon enough. Now I saw you lift your arms when you first stepped out, did you have any problems with that?"

"Nope."

"Good good, any other noticeable problems that need any addressing yet?"

"Not that I can tell."

"Systems are fully functional Doc," F.C.K.U commented.

"Marvelous," he commented continuing to write, "Now if you would please Max, I would like you to go through a few quick tests and then we will move ahead with what the others are doing and practice equipping F.C.K.U manually. They seem to have skipped ahead, but no matter. It should be somewhat easier for you than the others anyway since your SIREN is lighter than theirs." The man indicated towards the others that had begun, lips cracking into a crooked smile.

Whether the test subjects realized it or not, Caldwell was well aware of their ignoring of test procedures. Frankly this irked him beyond explanation. ".....I guess I missed the part where all of you are fu**ing experts on these machines and therefore don't have to follow fu**ing testing regulations. Fine then, let's try something a little different!" Caldwell roared as he stormed off down the training grounds. Draven had an unnaturally pale look on his face as Caldwell departed, much to the dismay of Isaiah.

"What do you suppose he means by that?"

"Nothing good....."

"What the hell are you waiting for!? Get your a**es down here now!!!" Caldwell again roared, causing most of the analytical team to swiftly depart down the training grounds after him. Isaiah simply stood by, perplexed as to why any of them were so fearful of the rather scrawny Caldwell.

"Avalon....Patch me a line to the others."

'Right away, Sergeant Cole.'

Before long a small video box appeared in the upper right hand corner of each SIREN's HUD displaying the image of their current CO. Isaiah's screen however had become a cluttered mess of everyone's faces. "Avalon.....next time I ask for a patch. Just make mine an audio feed."

'Roger.'

"Alright everyone, apparently the Doc's a bit pissed about something and I wouldn't put it past him to try and pull something. Keep on your toes." With his order given, Isaiah disconnected from the feed and made his way down to where the analysts were huddled.

"Since all of you apparently find these necessary tests boring. Why don't we just skip the safety bullsh** and jump right into combat training. Sergeant Cole, step forward." Isaiah stared at the doctor from behind the visor of the Avalon for a moment before doing as he was told. Behind Caldwell was what appeared to be a firing range, set up with various types of targets scattered about. "We're going to test your weapons system now. Shoot the targets."

Isaiah blinked for a moment, looking around to find some kind of weapon for which to do just that. After a few minutes of mindless searching, Isaiah finally turned back to Caldwell. "I don't have a gun...."

"Avalon...."

'Initiating Digital Armament Replication Tool.'

Isaiah's SIREN clicked and whirred for awhile before finally doing anything notable. As if moving on its own, the Avalon reached behind its back, withdrawing what appeared to be an oversized gun handle, minus the gun. "The hell am I supposed to do with this?"

''Loading Assault Rifle.'

As if by some kind of high tech magic, the 'gun handle' began to glow as the digital outline of an AO-63 assault rifle took form around it. Before long the entire weapon now rested firmly in the Avalon's hands. "......Hello."

"This is the DART weapons system. Depending on your SIREN's make, you can hold anywhere from 2 to 7 weapons in this system. The Avalon, like all Assault SIRENs, can hold four, Scouts can carry two, and Heavies are capable of holding seven." Dr. Draven spoke up from behind the crowd of other analysts.

"....That so?" Isaiah said, a childlike smile etching its way across his face as he did. The young sergeant took aim down the field before unleashing a spray of bullets into the targets. After several seconds of constant firing, the gun finally ran out of ammo, leaving Isaiah a bit perplexed once more. "What gives?"

"You're out of bullets.....DART doesn't replicate those dumba**," Caldwell growled, kicking open an ammo crate in the process. "Alright, all of you familiarize yourself with the DART system. When you're done here you can either return to your rooms or try a little CQC with each other. Frankly, and this should be obvious by now, I don't give a fu**."

ZZ glanced around as her comrades began to test out there SIRENs. Looking around inside of it, she cleared her throat softly. “Zroya?” she called. The screen in front of her came to life, coming on as it checked her vitals. “Youuuuuuu sheeeeemed to be calm, Prrrivvvvate Zaaaahaaaariiiiiii.” Zroya slurredas it took her heart rate. ZZ gave the machine a funny look as an engineer came by to check on things. “Zroya, are you drunk?!” ZZ asked it. “Is that even possible?”

“No, miss, just need to fix the voice modulator.” The engineer began to poke at the table he was holding. “Zahari, ask Zroya a question.”

ZZ glanced at the engineer before speaking, “Um… Zroya, can you change the temperature by 5 degrees?”

“Call me ZZ.” She said without thinking. Moving her fingers and watching as the SIREN did the same, ZZ punched the air to observe its movements. “Well ZZ, it looks to me that Zroya is working normally now. I’m on standby if you need me.”

“Thanks Doc.” ZZ moved her body, Zroya mimicking her. As she did these simple tests, she heard Dr. Cadwell bark something. Afterwards, her screen was covered with Sergeant Cole’s face. “Woah, hello.” She said, leaning backward slightly. She then covered her mouth, realizing she had said this out loud. “Sorry Sergeant Cole, keeping on my toes, check.” ZZ moved to where the doctor has told them to go, observing Isaiah’s SIREN. She watched in awe as the SIREN pulled out something like a handle. As it began to compute, the handle turned into a gun. “Oh, I better get one of those…” she muttered excitedly. As Isaiah began to shoot, ZZ’s request was granted as her own SIREN pulled out the same looking thing. “Oh man, now all I need is my favorite baby.”

Zroya chimed in as she said this, “Which one?” As ZZ thought about it, Zroya began to put DART into use as it took the shape of a minigun. “How did you know, Zroya?” ZZ smiled as she looked at a larger version of one of her favorite guns. Looking at some of the other targets that went untouched by Isaiah, ZZ aimed her gun carefully and pulled the trigger. A smile from ear to ear came on her face as she let her trigger happy self shoot the target. She stopped after a moment, realizing she wasn’t out in the middle of nowhere shooting but inside a facility. “I shall enjoy this toy,” she chuckled slightly.

It was cold, not unlike his metal limbs, and a bit difficult to move. This thing covered his full body and was quite large. ”Is very interesting,” the young man muttered. He slowly got to his feet, balancing unsteadily. “Not good,” he muttered again. He slowly walked forward, watching to make sure he did not hit anyone. “IVAN, make sure people hear me,” he told the suit.

Affirmative.

“Hello, Cpl Galia,” Kirill looked down to see a large, mildly buff man in his forties wearing a white lab coat, “I am Doctor Grant Valum. I am here to assist you in learning to use the SIREN you have been assigned. This is an order from the head.”

“Sir, yes sir,” the boy said, clumsily saluting, “What you want me to do?” He nearly put his fist into his head.

“We’ll start simple, though I see you could get your scarf on,” Valum said bluntly, “Walk to the end of the room and back, then push your hand against the wall. Do not harm the wall.”

“Yes,” the red-head replied simply, it was like therapy all over again. He walked slowly, making sure the heavy foot didn’t touch anyone. It took him a few minute to cross the room at his pace. He then turned and walked back to his doctor. He then slowly touched the walk gauging how far each muscle-movement-thought brought his mecha-arm. He barely tapped the wall and then pulled his hand back to his side.

Dr. Shaw shook his head at Caldwell's little burst of anger, yet he obliged to the short man's demands. "You'd better follow suit." he said, following the other engineers. But not without giving Ren a firm slap on her now metallic ass. "I swear to god, I will kill that man." Ren gritted between clenched teeth. "Warning, killing or otherwise harming any Celsius personnel is against compound rules and can be punished by court martial." Vindictus added, in perhaps a bit too playful manner.

A small video box suddenly popped up on the HUD with Isaiah's face in it. Oh god, please don't say me he can see me right now. Ren thought as she imagined her sweaty face, not exactly something she wanted others to see right now. She wasn't quite sure what he meant with Caldwell trying something, hasn't he been doing that the entire time? She started to follow the others, although it was harder than it seemed. Walking around in these suits felt like wearing high heels. High heels with three inches of bullet proof plating around it. That, and despite Ren's heritage, she actually hadn't learned to walk on high heels, too girly. Eventually she got the hang of it and managed to follow the rest with some ease.

A firing range, now they were getting to the good stuff. Though there didn't seem to be any weapons around. Maybe the suits had build in weapons? Like that comic hero, Metal Man... Something like that, comics were too geeky for her tastes. Wouldn't really be an effective weapons system, arms couldn't possibly be as easy to aim as they make out to be in the movies. Of course, that whole notion went to hell the moment this DART thing was brought into play.

"Hey Vindictus, could I get one of those-""Activating Digital Armament Replication Tool." After a few whirs and clicks, a small compartment on the right leg opened up, where the handle of the DART system was extruding from. Ren carefully took the handle, after which the compartment closed again. It looked rather fragile. "So how exactly does this thing work?" Without even getting a reply from Vindictus, the handle started to glow as the outline of a weapon became visible. "Oh, oh my, is this a...?""FR-27 SFR Combat Rifle." Even Vindictus sounded appreciative of the little gift. And why not? It was the perhaps the most modern weapon, besides these suits, on the field right now. A few more icons popped up on the HUD, but Ren couldn't be bothered with those just yet. She stepped up to a cubicle and aimed down the range. It was surprising to see how well the suit managed to catch the users movements and add small counter movements in the arms, barely noticeable. It kept the weapon still in an eerie way. The FR-27 SFR was already known for it's low recoil thanks to build in shock absorbers, but with the suit it almost felt like there was no recoil at all. In fact, there was so little recoil, that Ren missed the first few shots thanks to her subconcious reflex of adjusting her shots due to recoil.

When she had enough, she turned to the engineers, or more specifically Caldwell. Something she was probably going to regret, but she just had to know. "I'm no physicist, but I paid attention in school... Sometimes. Anyway, the law of conservation states that matter can neither be created nor destroyed, so where exactly did these guns come from?" Thank the lords for that one time she actually paid attention.

“Well, I guess that cuts our little meeting short,” Dr. Fortenshwal sighed at Caldwell's conniption fit. “Initiate Technical Briefing, access code 63889,” she quipped in a manner befitting a statement such as 'see you later' or 'take care' as she walked away, the man-eating smile painted pleasantly on her face as she returned to the ornery project manager's side.

Melly was left under a barrage of text scrolling on her viewport, leaving her open-mouthed as she tried to absorb all of the information.

“Technical specifications may be revisited at any time by use of access code 63889. In summation, this unit's DART is singular in its programming. An inventory of items approved for replication is available for reviewing upon request.”

“Okay, um...wow...So...everybody else gets lots of weapons, and I get...Okay, well, that makes sense,” she mused as she scanned the list that was presented on the left side of her HUD. “You've got to slow down the data rate, though...I can't read that fast.” Even before the words were out of her mouth, the green text slowed in its scrolling, and Melani bit the inside of her cheek as she began to mentally devour the information. She didn't quite understand the shielding tolerance of the outer armor of the suit and other stuff like that, but it was good to know what the maximum speed and other (understandable) capabilities of her SIREN were. Y'know, since the thing jacked into her nervous system, and all...

She shook her head, servos whirring faintly in her ears, and took a deep breath as she turned her attention to the whole 'familiarizing herself with the DART' thing that Caldwell had ordered them to do. It seemed that she stood there for a long moment, staring at her forearm where the contraption was supposed to be located. Then, suddenly, Asclepius's DART flared to life, cycling through the tools that Melani had read on the list. The process was slow at first, but picked up speed with a surprising swiftness.

Medical tools reflected the light as she gave each one a brief examination, then moved on to the mechanical repertoire, screwdrivers giving way to wrenches giving way to a pneumatic hammer giving way finally to a revolving metal saw that gave off a high-pitched whine as it began to spin.

He probably looked foolish, trying to maintain his balance, his arms flailing like a young bird learning to fly."What are we doing, Private Dalakis?" Regulus wondered. "I'm not sure..." Teo responded with embarrassment.

"Just relax, Private Dalakis." Called a woman's voice. Teo turned to see a short young woman with fiery red hair. Her skin was very pale and her face was covered with freckles. Her green eyes looked rather big behind her thick glasses. "If you try to RELAX it's easier to walk."

"Is it? How do you know? Have you ever used one of these things?" Teo asked the woman. The woman responded without missing a beat. "Gee I don't know. I'm just the scientist-engineer who spent years studying this technology. I guess by now I KNOW how it works." Teo smiled at this, "Right..." He decided to take the woman's advice. He soon adapted to the heavy feeling the mech had. "Hey! Check me out!" the private laughed as he walked around and jumped a bit off the ground. "Congratulations, you're finally catching up to everyone else who had walking down in seconds." Came the woman's reply complete a lazy applause.

"Err, thanks. I'm Teo by the way." He introduced himself. "I know who you are." the woman frowned, "I assume you want to know who I am. I'm doctor Aideen Walsh-" It seemed she was about to say something else until Dr. Caldwell started screaming again. "God that man I swear..." Aideen sighed and rolled her eyes. She started walking off towards him, muttering something about tampons and Dr. Caldwell.

"Hey, Sunshine, you coming?" Aideen called to Teo in annoyance, "You're such a big boy, mastering walking like you did that NOW we're gonna teach you to shoot guns! Doesn't that sound fun!"

"She is not very happy." Regulus stated its observations, making Teo chuckle. "Why are you laughing, Private Dalakis?" Teo grinned, "Ah, nothing. And you can call me Teo." "I will call you Teo, then, Teo."

They made their way down to the range where some of the others already were. Teo mimicked what he saw Isaiah and the others do. The SIREN pulled out a large gun handle and instantly a rocket launcher materialized onto the handle. "How in the world does that work?" Teo asked no one in particular. "You can shoot it if you want." He fired the rocket at a target, hitting it and blowing it to bits. "This is...amazing..."

Sharline jumped when Caldwell suddenly yelled at the top of his lungs, her jerking motion imperceptible from inside the Sepia. She glared. The analyst was about to lecture her senior on the importance of maintaining protocol, but bit her tongue. Ugh. Good thing Myra's not here. Sharline shook her head. She would have a field day. Although Myra St. Moritz, as an intermediary liaison between research and legal, was familiar with the scientists' peculiar personalities, she wasn't much more empathetic than strictly corporate types like Eckhart. Sharline's brow twitched as the CEO's face formed in her mind. She shivered. ...He would, too.

The girl followed the group, about twenty of them all told, to the firing range. A surge of adrenaline flooded her bloodstream as the impressive Avalon suddenly armed itself, and Isaiah began to fire. "Sepia, begin visuals recorder," Sharline murmered, raising her left wrist and tapping several unseen buttons. A blue screen – a hologram – projected out and up from her forearm. With her right hand, the analyst began to type, her fingers gliding over the virtual keypad in a unique manner of shorthand. In hindsight, those college stenography classes had really come in handy.

Sharline's fingers hastened as ZZ, Ren, and Teo began blasting ammo down the range. She noted every last minutia that seemed important, down to the way Ren over-adjusted her aim because of a percieved recoil. Fascinating. The analyst was already impressed by their instincts. The jarheads might have been a motley crew, but their combat skills were on-point.

However, the researcher was only human, and there were several key factors she couldn't percieve. “Sepia, begin data collection on relative target accuracy, hand-eye coordination, and other pertinent stats.”

Once the group had entered the training grounds, Slavik had once more returned to his stoic self. Remaining far from the others while the fresh members were introduced, he merely observed their oddities. Though his face remained plain and uninterested, deep within the Cernovian, he was actually smirking at Caldwell's discomfort. The scientist's first impression had left Slavik with a rather strong sense of disapproval, while he respected the man's probably scientific qualities, Slavik simple disliked the man for who he was. Nothing more, nothing less.

The demonstration on the other hand raised Slavik's hopes somewhat, that perhaps there was a reasonable reason after all to why he was here. Perhaps this would finally aid in the complete liberation of Cernovia. But while they were agile and a sight to behold, the man couldn't help but question whether or not these machines, these weapons could navigate through the dense ruins and unstable terrain that made up his country. When the demonstration was over Slavik was assigned 'unit 7' as he watched the others head over to their capsules Slavik simply stood still and observed as everyone merely followed orders.

“Not very trusting are you. Typical Cernovian mentality” Came a quiet yet amused voice from behind him, the speaker looked strangely ragged and worn, considering how the others within this complex appeared it stood out but how he had managed to hide his ‘black sheep’ nature reflected upon his origins, “Resistance until liberty countryman.” The man said in a dull tone as a lazy smile played on his lips, “From the looks of things, you’re not at all surprised, the superiors back in the underground gave a hint of my involvement?”

“Not a word was ushered about this, I doubt they knew.” Slavik shrugged before his own smile played on his lips, “That or you were too insignificant to be noted.”

“Ah, in that case shall we continue with tradition or shall we talk about how our country is rebuilding itself at a pleasant pace?” Now that Slavik had the time, he could see that his fellow countryman wore similar clothing to that of the other scientists, a lab coat and underneath that plain working clothes yet the man also wore a combat knife, which was neatly tucked behind his back, almost hidden under his coat.

Without warning both men drew their knives and had them at each other’s throats, neither made the killing blow but both blades were firmly pressed against the skin.“I am Orion Fell, scientist and supervisor of unit 7, current designated under the name; Spectre.”“I am Viscont Slavik, selected for unknown reasons, designated rank private, simply to aid in mixing in with other military units.”“I give you my word, should you betray our land, by my hand-““-I shall release you from your sin and in the gutters you shall be forgotten and unmourned.”“To this I vow and in blood I swear-““-I trust your loyalty remains firm and your words are true.”

Both men momentarily lowered their blades before tossing them at each other, hilt first, each of them caught the others knife and began inspecting it.“A newer blade I see, keen and somewhat nicked, a botched stab or were you playing around?”“Psh, first knife fight, deflected and fail to deliver the killing blow, merely punctured the lower lung. ”“Tacky, you’re lucky your target didn’t return the favour.”“He couldn’t , I pushed him off a staircase shortly afterwards, finished the job when I located the body. I’m surprised that you’re blade is this heavy at the handle, didn’t see you as an infiltrator.”“Appearances must be deceiving, my first target thought the same thing. Last thing he thought as well, I suspect.”Each offered the other’s blade back before sheathing them and moved to the capsule without further words. Neither looked at one another nor did they pay any attention to the others, there was only the suit now.“You’ll notice that you’re ‘SIREN’ will be ‘smaller’ when compared the others, small as in humanoid size. It was designed with urban fighting in mind, it’s also an infiltrating system. It’s most likely the reason to why you were chosen to operate this suit. So try not to disappoint me or our country .”

“Weapon load outs?” Slavik’s voice was simple and almost uncaring.“Cernovian designed, I advised the superiors here that it would fit best with this SIREN and further encourage the involvement of our people.”“Of course.”“You sound unconvinced.”“I have my reasons, new technology is a gamble after all. Especially during war. ”“That’s why you’re here. To ensure we can alter the tides.”“Perhaps.”“I take it you’re-““More interested in fighting on the front? Patrolling the streets? Ambushing scouting parties? Yes. To die in the line of duty is the wish of every Cernovian.”“Or so we are told.” Slavik merely smirked as Orion replied but held his tongue.

The SIREN known as ‘Spectre’ appeared much like a suit rather than a machine, just barely bigger than him, compared to the other’s it was lightly armoured but was clearly much more flexible. “You’ve got the advantage here, taking this on and off takes less time. Should fit like a glove...” Orion explained as he began to input various commands into the nearby console, the armour around the SIREN’s chestplate, leg and arm seemed to retract –no fold to the edges somehow- allowing enough space for its new pilot to enter without needing to manually put each piece on, though how it worked was beyond Slavik.“In case of power failure within the nano-nerves or if the central module is damaged you can remove each piece individually as if it were a part of your standard battle gear. There’s also an inbuilt ‘assistant AI’ that will communicate to you about key features-““So I’ve got an AI advertising itself?” Slavik interrupted without a smile as donned the suit for the first time, as his head touched the back of the helmet the SIREN closed up sealing him up from the world.

The dull sounds of machinery filled Slavik’s senses as his eyes looked through the SIREN’s lenses for the first time, at first it was somewhat in a haze of orange but slowly the system began to optimize it’s filters and soon the world was back in its original color. “While the system is adjusting to your physical shape, tell me, how badly were your eyes effected? Do the other’s know?” Came the calm voice of Orion Fell as he looked to a data slate, “Judging by your, I can assuming you’re generation was effected by the-.”

““My eyes are fine, superficial only.” Slavik replied coldly.“Lucky. Now then, try walking around and then I’ll run some other tests, once we’re done I’d like observe how well they’ve trained you, I’m sure Caldwell will have something for your SIREN considering it’s specialization. ” Orion gave a grin.

Isaiah emptied of a few more clips of his AO-63 until ZZ's minigun caught his attention, an audible whistle escaping the young sergeants SIREN as he observed it further. After stepping away from the firing range for a moment, Isaiah brought up the Avalon's DART system in his HUD. After cycling through all the available weapons the young sergeant found himself a bit disheartened. "Hey Avalon, what gives? Why don't I have a giant minigun?"

'Sergeant, the Avalon is an Assault type unit. Therefore its on-board weapons are restricted to those fitting this category. In addition, the Avalon's DART does not have enough memory in its individual weapon slots to support such a firearm.'

"....Doc, what's that mean in english?"

"It means the hard drive is full."

"Ah..."

By this point, Caldwell had jotted down a few notes of his own before turning to answer Ren's question. "Laws of conservation? What laws of conservation?"

""Um.....si-"

"Oh those.....I never liked those laws. So I just ignored them."

Isaiah's confusion almost doubled at this statement as he turned back to Draven, hoping for answers. "What exactly does he mean by that?"

"He's being serious," Draven said with a heavy sigh. "When the CEO's asked Dr. Caldwell to find a way to increase the amount of weapon's each SIREN could carry, he got the idea to digitize everything." Draven stopped for a moment, gauging Isaiah's reaction before proceeding further. "Basically, Dr. Caldwell found a way to take raw matter and, through a process even I haven't full figured out, break it down into computer code. From there the DART system stores the matter in the SIREN's central hard drive, hence the limitations on the quantity and type of weapons each SIREN can carry. From there, DART is somehow able to reform this code into the matter that was originally used to create it."

Isaiah was visibly stunned, even through the faceplate of the Avalon. "I have no idea what you just said....but I think I like it." At this, Draven sighed further. Why couldn't he have gotten a more intelligent jarhead? Before Draven could so much as attempt to explain DART any further, Isaiah had already started making his way across the training grounds again.

"Sergant Cole? Where are you going?"

"I want to try this thing out in a little CQC. See what this bad boy's capable of."

At this Draven's expression shifted to one of absolute terror as he sprinted after the young sergeant. "Are you crazy!? Take the Avalon off before you do that!" Isaiah's brow furrowed as the feeble doctor stepped in front of his SIREN, blocking his path to the CQC area.

"Why the hell not?"

Draven groaned an massaged his temples before moving to answer. "We haven't started mass producing these things yet. We simply can't afford to risk you damaging the unit until then, however unlikely that is that you could."

Isaiah simply frowned before giving in to the young doctor's demands. "Fine I'll take the bloody thing off. Now can I go get some CQC work in? I don't want to get rusty."

"Oh....I'd say that's the least of your worries?"

"Eh-?"

"Who's the girly man?" a thick voice echoed from across the hall. Standing in the middle of what looked to be a classic boxing ring was a massive figure dressed in a simple tee shirt and gym shorts.

"Ah, Lieutenant Petrov.....you were here...." Draven sighed as he brought Isaiah towards the entrance of what looked to be a self-contained gym. Sergeant Cole, this is Lieutenant Petrov. Formerly-"

"Maldovan Special Forces...." Isaiah said with a low growl. Draven however was a bit stunned at this remark, having not expected Isaiah to be that observant.

"Erm....yes, that's correct. Lieutenant Petrov defected about 15 years ago. It was thanks to him that the republic was able to acquire the designs for the R-47 mobile tanks still in use today."

"I read your teams files, Sergeant Cole. Says you and that Ishii woman are supposed to be real CQC experts. I'd like to test that for myself."

"Gladly..." Isaiah growled as the Avalon disarmed, allowing the young sergeant to remove himself from the SIREN.

"Whoah, whoah, stop...." Lieutenant Petrov said with an unnatural grimace etching across his face. "You're not actually going to come into my ring wearing that are you? You look fu**ing ridiculous." Petrov burst into laughter as Isaiah stood there in his pilot suit. By now Isaiah was visibly pissed off, though he couldn't help but agree with the lieutenant.

"Draven....."

"Right this way, Sergeant..." Draven sighed as he led the man to the locker room where a set of gym clothes awaited him. Isaiah returned shortly after, stepping into the ring with the visibly larger man without a moment's hesitation.

"You sure you're up for this, old man?"

"Old man, young heart." Petrov growled as he readied himself for the fight. "Why don't you bring your little squad friends over? I want to see the look on their faces when I throw you out of this ring."

"....Fine by me.....Draven?"

The young doctor sighed as he pressed a button on a nearby intercom. "Would Sergeant Cole's squad please remove your SIRENs and proceed to the CQC area."

Melani's DART grew silent as the large Maldovan lumbered up and started making fun of the her squad leader...This would have made her frown even if she hadn't had a metric tonne of of a crush on Isaiah.

”Asclepius...Um. Procedure to, ah...What do you call it? Not disarm...Un-dock? Remove the...oh. Thanks,” she stopped in her rambling as more bright green text lit up her HUD, explaining in rather clear terms how one activated the removal system. She briefly thought about going back to where it had been docked, but quickly surmised that they were obviously going to be coming back if Isaiah had been allowed to just leave his suit in the middle of the floor. She was sure they'd be made to put up their toys later, so with the audible hiss of hydraulics, the massive suit split along the lines that it was supposed to, allowing the tiny little slip of the squad's medic to extricate herself from its mechanical embrace.

She was of half a mind to say something to the lummox, but bit her tongue, self-conciously crossing her arms over her meager bosom as she rationed that the big ex-Maldovan might be being so mean and obnoxious specifically to make Isaiah angry, probably as a way to teach him to keep his cool in battle. Yeah, that must be it.

She was tempted to run over and tell Isaiah of her discovery of the root of the situation, but...He was a smart boy, she was sure. He'd definitely be able to figure it out for himself!

The question was just...how hurt would he have to get before he did? She bit the inside of her cheek and turned toward where her technician had been recalled, mouthing a question about where she might find a first-aid kit. Credit to the man-eating bitch, but Melly didn't even have to get the whole question out before she pointed the locale out, a cool look still on her face as she ignored the bright smile Melani gave her in reward for her quick action.

After procuring the little white box marked with its red plus sign, she moved to the side of the ring, hugging it to her chest, and called out to her CO, ”Give him hell, Isa...um, Sarge!”